Live: BJP workers protest near PM's house, demand his resignation

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Last Updated: Sun, May 12, 2013 11:41 hrs

5. 10 pm

India welcomes Nawaz Sharif victory

With former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif all set to becoming the next Pakistan PM for the third time after his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) registered a clean victory in the country's election, India has welcomed the poll results in the neighbouring nation.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India "welcomes whatever result that comes out of a democratic election."

"Our government has had relations with Nawaz Sharif. From Prime Minister's side also congratulations will be offered to him," Khurshid told reporters.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: "Congratulations to Nawaz Sharif. I hope he is now able to live up to his commitment to restart his peace process interrupted in 1999. I suppose we'll have to wait for a post election scenario to emerge in our country before any meaningful engagement can begin."

4.00 pm:

Syria rebels free UN peacekeepers held in Golan: Reports

Reuters: Syrian rebels have freed four Filipino US peacekeepers who they had captured on the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last week, the Philippines' foreign minister said on Sunday.

Al Jazeera English television, monitored in Dubai, quoted sources as saying the four had been transferred to Israel.

Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario confirmed to Reuters in Manila that the four had been released. The ministry will issue a statement later in the day, he said.

1.30 pm:

NDTV: Around 2000 workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing today clashed with the Delhi Police after they defied prohibitory orders and attempted to march towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's house in central Delhi.

The Delhi Police fired tear gas shells and water cannons.

The BJP workers are demanding Dr Singh's resignation.

1.06 pm:

BJP workers protest near PM's house, demand his resignation.

Police used tear gas and water cannons on the protesters who were 200 meters away from the PM's residence.

1.00 pm:

TN mother sells one of her twins for Rs 60,000

TOI: A 24-year-old woman sold one of her infant twins to a family in the city for Rs 60,000. The family paid an advance of Rs 25,000, and the sale came to light when they refused pay the rest of the amount. The KK Nagar police are inquiring, but an FIR is yet to be filed.

Police sources said the Sanjana (name changed), wife of an MTC bus conductor, delivered twin boys a few months ago and doctors informed her that one of them had a hole in the heart. The couple were struggling to make ends meet. "The woman told us that her aunt suggested that she sell one of the babies," a police officer said. She had, in fact, found a buyer in Shafeek (name changed), their neighbour, who has three girl children and wanted a boy.

1.00 pm:

German Bakery reopens after three years

TOI: German Bakery finally reopened a little past noon on Saturday, close to three years and three months after a powerful bomb ripped through it, killing 17 and injuring 64 others. The reopening of the popular food joint in the tony Koregaon Park area was delayed for want of a structural stability report which the bakery's owners submitted to the civic corporation recently.

The reopening of the bakery, now a symbol of the first major terror attack in Pune with links stretching to global terror outfits, was much awaited among locals and regulars. But it was delayed as the police had issued a notice to German Bakery owners in February 2013 asking them to not open it until the structural stability report was submitted. The owners had also been asked to clear the legal hurdles involving regularization of all internal changes on the premises before the restaurant's reopening.

12.45 pm

Indian companies at center of Rs. 247 crore global cyber heist

Reuters: Two companies with major operations in India were the weak links that opened the door to a 45 million dollars (around 247 crore rupees) global cyber heist brought to light by US authorities this week.

EnStage Inc, which operates from Bangalore, and ElectraCard Services, which is based in Pune, processed card payments for the two Middle Eastern banks that were hit in the theft, according to several people familiar with the situation.

US prosecutors said on Thursday that hackers broke into two card processing companies, raising the balances and withdrawal limits on accounts that were then exploited in coordinated ATM withdrawals around the world.

The prosecutors did not name the two companies but said one was based in India and the other in the United States.

12.30 pm

Delhi Zoo installs coolers for animals during summers

The Delhi Zoo has installed desert coolers and exhaust fans in all its enclosures to keep the animals cool during summers.

"We have installed around 70 desert coolers in almost all the enclosures, including those of tigers, lions, elephants and rhinos, with most of them having two coolers installed in each enclosure to keep the animals cool," Riyaz Ahmed Khan, Curator of the National Zoological Park, said.

The large animals were being given a bath at least twice a day, while in some enclosures like those of rhinos, hippos and buffaloes, the moats and polls were being filled with water and mud to allow them to soak, he said.

"We are giving the herbivores and primates seasonal fruits like watermelons and cucumbers, while carnivores are being provided with a reduced diet structure of meat so that digesting is easy for them. Plenty of drinking water has also been provided to the animals," a zoo official said.

12.00 pm

Govt to finalise ways to implement Food Bill in next 10-15days

The government will in next 10-15 days decide on issuing an Ordinance or convening a special session of Parliament for passage of the UPA government's ambitious National Food Security Bill.

Food Minister K V Thomas said besides Ordinance and special session of Parliament, the option before the government is also to issue an executive order to bring into effect some of the key provisions of the bill.

Food bill, which is dubbed as the world's largest social welfare programme, aims to give legal right over an uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg via ration shops to 67 per cent of the population.

11.30 am

Dawn.com reports: The PPP submitted a petition to the chief election commissioner on Friday, demanding disqualification of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif from contesting election for violating the code of conduct by 'misusing' a photograph of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in an advertisement.

10.30 am

Myanmar issues cyclone warning

Myanmar's government warned today that a cyclone now forming in the Bay of Bengal could slam into the country's western coast next week, raising fears that storm surges or heavy rains could swamp low-lying camps housing tens of thousands of people who fled sectarian violence last year.

The brunt of the storm is currently barreling northwest toward Bangladesh. But its direction could shift northeast and hit Myanmar's Rakhine state when it makes landfall at midweek, Myanmar's Meteorology Department and aid officials monitoring the situation said.

10.00 am

Engineering student commits suicide by jumping before train after being ragged

Zeenews: An engineering student allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train in Thane, on Friday.

Reports quoted cops claiming to have recovered a suicide note from the pocket of Nitin Padalkar—a second year Electronics and Telecommunications student at the Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology—in which he accused two boys of ragging and harassing him.

His body was found on the railway tracks in the Mumbai suburb on May 10.

A case has been registered at Kalyan Railway Police Station, and cops are investigating the role of the boys named in the suicide note.

9.30 am

Priyadarshini Mattoo's killer gets 13 days parole

The Delhi High Court has granted 13 days parole to Santosh Kumar Singh, undergoing life sentence in the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case, to appear in his LLM examination.

The court directed Singh to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000 before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Saket while allowing his plea against the single judge's order dismissing his application for parole.

A bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath granted Singh parole from May 16 to 28 and directed the Tihar jail authority to allow him to appear for LLM 2nd year examination after his personal bond is accepted by the magistrate.

In his plea, Singh said that he has been pursuing LLM from Annamalai University through distance education and sought parole to appear in 2nd year examination commencing from May 19.

He also said the court had earlier granted him parole to appear in the 1st year examination in 2012.

9.00 am

Playing their last match on home soil, Rajasthan Royals would look to consolidate their number two position in the points table and upstage top-placed title contenders Chennai Super Kings when the two most balanced sides clash in a Pepsi IPL match, on Sunday.

Rajasthan’s citadel has been breached just once in the tournament so far when they were outplayed by Mumbai Indians, and the hosts would look to sign off their home campaign on a high.

Moreover, Rajasthan were beaten by the table-toppers in an away game and they would like to return the compliment.

Rajasthan have done exceedingly well while chasing, their last two victories were comprehensive, and Chennai have emerged as superb defenders.

The batsmen in both the teams are in sparkling form. The only thing that gives a slight advantage to Chennai is their bowling.